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Posted on: January 6, 2017

Zoo Idaho Officially Welcomes Pronghorn, Mule Deer

There are two new additions roaming the grounds at Zoo Idaho.

This week marked the formal debut of two fawns, Hamlet, a pronghorn, and Gigi, a mule deer. Hamlet arrived at the zoo in late May of 2016 and Gigi landed less than a week later after a stay with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game. Although they’re different species, they both came to the zoo for the same reason.

“Gigi and Hamlet are here because of concerned humans who picked them up while they were bedded down for the day,” said Peter Pruett, Zoo Idaho Superintendent. “While we are happy to see people care for the well-being of Idaho’s wildlife, we can’t stress enough how important it is to leave these animals alone in the wild. Don’t worry, mom is just getting her feeding in and will be back.”

The pair spent the summer months with zoo staff who took on the role of “mom” for the young fawns.

“Staff was bottle feeding them about every three hours starting at 8 a.m. and wrapping up around 1 a.m.,” Pruett said. “By the end of August, they made the transition to eating solid foods like alfalfa and grain. I’d like to thank the staff for their dedication to taking care of Gigi and Hamlet, even in the late hours.”

Now, Hamlet is enjoying his surroundings with his new pronghorn family, as well as his bison and elk exhibit-mates. Gigi is being slowly introduced to the rest of the mule deer herd and is expected to be fully integrated within two weeks.

“They’re both off to a great start at Zoo Idaho and should make their public debut during the 2017 season,” Pruett said.